“The Sleeping City,” AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION’s third full-length album, utilizes their unique blend of progressive death metal and black metal with arpeggiating synths, wistful drones and vast soundscapes, harkening back to the era of 80’s sci-fi soundtracks. Being the band’s most atmospheric and heavy work to date, the album explores the depths of the human psyche and suffering. A decrepit yet monumental landmark, the sleeping city awaits ahead. Will you enter? The album has seven songs, and “Blackmurmur” is first. Fat keyboards notes roar forward with a will, and purpose, followed by a stern riff, with melody in tow. What a grandiose opening song, and the early feeling is momentous. The balance between a biting aggression and warm melodies is like two weather fronts clashing in the atmosphere with neither gaining any ground. They stalk each other with the impeccable vision and movement of a mongoose and a cobra, and I love the keyboard rich sound.

“No Dreams Beyond Empty Horizons” comes at you with clean guitar tones that morph to harder ones and the drums roll forward like a swarm of angry bees. The harsh vocals cut through the veil like a sharp blade, but the clean vocals are still quite warm. The balance is striking. Just when you think the harsh elements are going to take over, melody returns to save it from going over the edge into the abyss. The music is complexly structured, yet so easy to listen to. “Like a Geyser Ever Erupting” is that demanding and formidable song that you may have been waiting for, for the first two minutes. Then a clean passage adds some color to the palate. The roar of the aggression is like a hurricane trying to bring down a mountain, but in the end, it only succeeds in stripping it bare of its trees.

“Frost Flower” smooths some of the fire of the previous songs, with lush keyboards, and the kinds of melody you want to climb in bed with. The clean vocals are harmonious and coax you further under the covers. A frigid wins barrels in like the breath of a spirit Giant of old, coming awake after lying dormant for centuries, but afterwards, it’s like a clean draw of cold air. “Emmett” is longest, at just over 11 minutes. It enters unassumingly, but you can see the storm on the horizon, and when it hits, it rages for what seems like days. Even during the deluge though, bright lead breaks and keyboards provide a beacon for traversing the madness. Thick bass notes mix in, keeping the bottom end strong, and it ends on a solemn tone. “Silverfields” is shortest, at just under four minutes, and its tense keyboard tones set the stage for the final song, the title track.

Its heavy opening tones rattle the very ground that you stand on. Keyboards, clean vocals and rhythmic guitar tones keep it from driving you mad however, but that blackness still hangs in your head. You can feel the tension building…mounting…and threatening to swallow you hole. The beast’s claws are sharp, its teeth are like spears, and he roars with a ferocity not heard, but is held back just enough that he finally walks away in the end. The album combines the naked ferocity of black and death metal, the elegance of soaring melody, and the sophistication of progressive metal’s structural complexity, yet presenting it all in a way that feels instantly graspable. It speaks to multiple audiences at once. The black/death metal purist will find plenty of savage bite. The melody-driven listener will latch onto motifs that return and evolve with each track. The progressive devotee will marvel at the hidden architecture beneath the surface. Even with all this depth, the music remains immediately accessible. For me, it’s a quantum leap for Progressive Death Metal, and the best album of 2025.